Psalms 69:8

Psa 69:8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.

Ver. 8. I am become a stranger unto my brethren] No otherwise than as if I were a mamzer (so the Hebrews call a bastard), that is, a strange blot to the family. Christ came to his own, but they received him not; yea, his own brethren believed not on him, Joh 7:5 This, when the Turks read in our Gospel, they wonder; and the Jews, therefore, slander his miracles, for not so manifest as we conceive.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. (Psa 69:8). I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto the sons of my mother. The literal meaning of the first clause is, I have been estranged to (or as to) my brothers. There may be an allusion to the envious treatment of David by the other sons of Jesse. See 1Sa 17:28. The loss or alienation of the nearest friends is spoken of as one of the severest trials in Psa 27:10.

10 (Psa 69:9). For the zeal of thine house, jealous regard for the honour of the sanctuary, as the visible centre of the true religion, has consumed me, implying an extreme intensity of feeling ; and in consequence of this zeal, the revilings of thy revilers have fallen upon me. That such revilers did exist in David's time, we learn from 2Sa 12:14. The first clause of the verse before us is applied to Christ in Joh 2:17, and the second in Rom 15:3.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(8) Mother’s children.—See Note Son_1:6.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. Even his nearest relations treat him as a stranger and a foreigner. Cp. Psa_38:11; Job_19:13 ff.; Jer_12:6.

my mother’s children] The sons of my own mother expresses a closer degree of relationship than my brethren, the children of the same mother being always regarded as bound to one another by a closer tie than those of the same father by different mothers. Cp. Psa_50:20.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I am become a stranger unto my brethren,.... Not only to the Jews in general, who were his own people and nation, to whom he came, and of whom he came; who received him not, hid as it were their faces from him, and rejected him as the Messiah; but also to such who were still nearer akin to him, according to the flesh, who did not believe in him, Joh 7:5; and even in some sense to his disciples and followers; some of which having heard some doctrines delivered by him not agreeable to them, withdrew from him, and walked no more with him, Joh 6:60; yea, to his apostles, whom he often called his brethren: one of these betrayed him, another denied him with oaths and cursing, and all of them forsook him and fled, when he was taken by his enemies, and about to suffer death;

and an alien unto my mother's children; which is the same as before, in other words. The Targum is,

"as the son of the Gentiles to my mother's children;''

that is, as an Heathen to them; see Mat 18:17.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I am become a stranger unto my brethren - That is, They treat me as they would a stranger; as one in whom they have no interest, and whom they regard with no friendship. Compare the notes at Psa 31:11.

And an alien unto my mother’s children - A foreigner; one of another tribe or nation; one to whom they were bound by no tie of relationship. The allusion in the language “unto my mother’s children” is intended to denote the most intimate relationship. In families where a man had many wives, as was common among the Hebrews, the nearest relationship would be denoted by being of the same “mother” rather than of the same “father.” See the notes at Psa 50:20. The same thing occurs also where polygamy is not practiced, in cases where a man has married more wives than one. The idea of the psalmist here, therefore, is, that his nearest relatives treated him as if he were a stranger and a foreigner. Compare Job 19:13-19.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

My nearest kinsmen estranged themselves from me; partly out of fear, test they should be involved in my sufferings; and chiefly out of dislike of his piety and excessive zeal in religion, as it here follows.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 8. I am become a stranger unto my brethren. The Jews his brethren in race rejected him, his family his brethren by blood were offended at him, his disciples his brethren in spirit forsook him and fled; one of them sold him, and another denied him with oaths and cursings. Alas, my Lord, what pangs must have smitten thy loving heart to be thus forsaken by those who should have loved thee, defended thee, and, if need be, died for thee.

And an alien unto my mother's children. These were the nearest of relatives, the children of a father with many wives felt the tie of consanguinity but loosely, but children of the same mother owned the band of love; yet our Lord found his nearest and dearest ones ashamed to own him. As David's brethren envied him, and spake evil of him, so our Lord's relatives by birth were jealous of him, and his best beloved followers in the hour of his agony were afraid to be known as having any connection with him. These were sharp arrows of the mighty in the soul of Jesus, the most tender of friends. May none of us ever act as if we were strangers to him; never may we treat him as if he were an alien to us: rather let us resolve to be crucified with him, and may grace turn the resolve into fact.

Ver. 8. A stranger unto my brethren. Unless this aversion of his brethren had pained him, he would not have complained of it. It would not have pained him unless he had felt a special affection for them. Musculus.

Ver. 8. In the east where polygamy prevails, the husband is a stern and unfeeling despot; his harem a group of trembling slaves; and the children, while they regard their common father with indifference or terror, cling to their own mother with the fondest affection, as the only part, as the only parent, in whom they feel an interest. Hence it greatly aggravated the affliction of David that he had become an alien unto his mother's children: the enmity of the other children of his father, the children of his father's other wives, gave him less concern. W. Greenfield, in Comprehensive Bible.

Ver. 8-9.

I. A grievous trial.

II. An honourable reason for it: for Christ's sake.

III. Consoling supports under it.

Psalms 69:9*

Ver. 8-9.

I. A grievous trial.

II. An honourable reason for it: for Christ's sake.

III. Consoling supports under it.

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. A stranger unto my brethren—Historically, no doubt, the statement might measurably be applied to David, but prophetically and more emphatically to Christ. Mar_3:21; Joh_7:5

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother"s children. The preference of David over all his elder brethren was calculated to arouse their jealousy; (1Sa_16:6-13) and Eliab"s hostile feeling is distinctly shown in 1Sa_17:28. We may gather from Ps 38, as well as from the present passage, that the alienation continued, and was not confined to Eliab.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.